TRR237 Policy: FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity

TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 1 of 7 TRR237 Policy: FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Preamble The TRR237 research consortium is committed to upholding the highest standards of scientific integrity and data stewardship. As a DFG-funded initiative, all members are obligated to adhere to the DFG Code of Conduct for Good Scientific Practice as formally acknowledged by every project leader. In addition, compliance with relevant local data policies is required to ensure responsible data management and legal conformity. Recognizing the critical role of data in advancing biomedical research, TRR237 affirms its commitment to the principles of open science and transparent data sharing. Beyond our foundational obligations, the consortium actively promotes the implementation of the FAIR Principles to ensure that research data generated within TRR237 are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable while carefully managing sensitive information to mitigate risks of misuse and dual-use concerns. By fostering a culture of responsible data stewardship and openness, we aim to maximize the impact, reproducibility, and collaborative potential of our research for the broader scientific community. This policy outlines the expectations and responsibilities for data management within TRR237, reinforcing our dedication to both regulatory compliance and the advancement of best practices in research data sharing. Table of Contents Preamble ..................................................................................................................... 1 Scope and Applicability of the Policy ........................................................................... 2 Key Reference Policies ............................................................................................ 2 TRR237-Specific Practices ......................................................................................... 3 Open Data and Risk Mitigation ................................................................................ 3 FAIR Data Principles ................................................................................................ 3 Open Access and Publication Support .................................................................... 3 Citation of Consortium Support ................................................................................ 4 Data Sharing and Collaboration ............................................................................... 4 Metadata Principles ................................................................................................. 4 Data Archiving .......................................................................................................... 5 Data Infrastructure ................................................................................................... 5 Data Management and Analysis Support ................................................................ 6 Roles and Responsibilities ....................................................................................... 6 Document Information ................................................................................................. 7 TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 2 of 7 Scope and Applicability of the Policy This data policy applies to all members and projects within the TRR237 consortium. It is intended to complement, not replace, existing regulations and guidelines established by the DFG and participating institutions. All researchers are required to comply with the DFG Code of Conduct for Good Scientific Practice and the research data policies of their respective universities. The TRR237 policy specifically addresses additional commitments and practices adopted by the consortium, with a particular emphasis on the implementation and promotion of the FAIR Principles. Where applicable, this policy references and defers to the standards and requirements set forth by the DFG and institutional frameworks. Key Reference Policies Policies of the DFG: • “DFG Guidelines on the Handling of Research Data” https://www.dfg.de/resource/blob/172098/4ababf7a149da4247d018931587d7 6d6/guidelines-research-data-data.pdf • “DFG Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice” DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14281892 https://zenodo.org/records/14281892 Policies of the University of Bonn: • Forschungsdatenpolicy für die Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn https://bonndoc.ulb.unibonn.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.11811/11361/Amtl.%20Bek.%2024012 .pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y • Regulations for Safeguarding Good Research Practice at the University of Bonn www.uni-bonn.de/de/forschung-lehre/forschung-und-lehremedien/promovierende-und-postdocsmedien/ordnung_zur_sicherung_guter_wissenschaftlicher_praxis_en_mitanderung.pdf • Website for Good Research Practice at the University of Bonn https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/quality-assurance-inresearch-and-teaching/good-research-practice Policies of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München: • Research Data LMU Portal https://fdm.ub.lmu.de/ Policies of the TU Dresden: • Leitlinien für den Umgang mit Forschungsdaten an der TU Dresden https://tu-dresden.de/forschung-transfer/ressourcen/dateien/wisprax/Leitlinienfuer-den-Umgang-mit-Forschungsdaten-an-der-TU-Dresden.pdf?lang=de • Statutes for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice, Avoiding Scientific Misconduct, and Handling Violations (unofficial translation) https://tu-dresden.de/ihi-zittau/umweltmanagement/ressourcen/dateien/tudguidlines/Statutes-for-ensuring-good-scientific-practice-TUD_EN.pdf TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 3 of 7 TRR237-Specific Practices In addition to adhering to the data management requirements of the DFG and participating institutions, TRR237 has established a set of consortium-level practices to further support responsible and effective research data management. These practices are designed to facilitate the implementation of the FAIR principles, encourage the use of shared infrastructure, and provide guidance and resources to all consortium members. The following section outlines the key elements of TRR237’s approach to fostering a collaborative and transparent data culture within the consortium. Open Data and Risk Mitigation Open data sharing in repositories is vital for scientific progress and is actively encouraged while considering potential risks including dual use or misuse of sensitive data, especially in politically or ethically sensitive contexts. To mitigate these risks, TRR237 implements a tiered risk assessment for data deposition. Routine datasets only require the Project Leader to confirm the absence of relevant risks. Datasets with potential concerns need to undergo detailed review by the CRC executive board and ethics committees. Researchers are expected to follow these protocols to balance openness with responsible stewardship and protect research integrity. FAIR Data Principles The FAIR principles provide a framework to ensure that research data can be easily found, accessed, combined, and reused by both humans and computers. FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. These principles provide highlevel guidance rather than strict rules to help maximize the value and impact of research data. • Findable: Data and metadata should be easy to locate for others, ideally through registration in searchable repositories and the use of persistent identifiers like DOIs. • Accessible: Data should be retrievable using standard protocols. Where open access is not possible, metadata should still describe how the data can be accessed. • Interoperable: Data should use standardized formats and vocabularies so they can be integrated with other datasets and used by different systems. • Reusable: Data and metadata should be well-described and licensed clearly, so others can understand and use them in new research. The TRR237 expects all researchers to consider the FAIR principles when managing and sharing their data. While not every dataset will meet all aspects of FAIR, efforts should be made to improve findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability as much as possible within the scope of each project. Open Access and Publication Support The TRR237 is committed to advancing open access to scientific knowledge and ensuring that research outputs are freely and widely available to the academic community and the public. In support of this commitment, the TRR237 offers financial assistance for open access publication fees to its members, subject to availability of TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 4 of 7 central consortium funds. Researchers are encouraged to prioritize open access journals when publishing results arising from TRR237 projects. This approach aligns with our dedication to transparency, accessibility, and the broad dissemination of research in accordance with open science principles. Citation of Consortium Support Project leaders are responsible for ensuring that all publications resulting from TRR237 projects properly acknowledge the consortium’s support in accordance with DFG regulations. This includes citing the TRR237’s project number 369799452 and adhering to the citation requirements specified by the DFG and institutional guidelines. Proper acknowledgment of support is essential for transparency and compliance with funding policies. Example: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 369799452 / TRR237 – Project INF In the example the text required by the DFG is marked in bold. The added “/ TRR237 – Project INF“ specifies the information further by adding the project code TRR237 and the specific subproject INF. Data Sharing and Collaboration Sharing Culture: All members are encouraged to participate in and promote a culture of open data sharing and collaboration, supporting innovation and reproducibility across the consortium. Collaboration and Transparency: Members are encouraged to form focus groups and collaborations, sharing resources and knowledge to enhance research quality and output. TRR237 fosters coordinative meetings and the exchange of data, analyses, and methods via the TRR237 Nextcloud platform. Co-authored publications resulting from joint efforts across projects are explicitly supported. Innovation and Feedback: Focus groups are invited to develop and share innovative analysis methods and documentation within the consortium. Subprojects may test these methods and provide feedback on their applicability. The Data Management Committee facilitates the dissemination of new methods and the collection of feedback to support ongoing improvements. Metadata Principles All TRR237 projects must provide accurate, computer-readable metadata for their datasets. Metadata should use consistent formatting and controlled vocabularies where possible, avoiding issues like inconsistent capitalization, abbreviations, or typographical errors. High-quality metadata are essential for robust analysis, data sharing, and reuse across the consortium. Metadata should be documented alongside each dataset in a structured, computerreadable format. Wherever possible, recognized metadata standards appropriate to the subject field should be used. At a minimum, the Dublin Core standard or an TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 5 of 7 equivalent general metadata schema is recommended to ensure interoperability and discoverability. Data Archiving Archiving Practice: Members archive research data in accordance with the Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice of the DFG and the respective research data management policies of their home institutions. This includes utilizing local archiving infrastructures, such as university libraries and institutional repositories, to ensure sustainable and secure long-term storage. Minimum Retention Period: Research data necessary for the reproducibility of scientific results are archived for at least 10 years beyond the end of the project, following DFG recommendations and local institutional requirements. Standards and Documentation: Archiving practices should follow recognized standards for data formats and documentation to support future accessibility and reuse. Training and resources are available to assist researchers in meeting these requirements. Data Infrastructure University services: The universites provide long term data archiving services according to DFG regulations. For the LMU (and TUM) the service is provided by the LRZ Documentation Platform. The TUD offers a short-term archive for up to 3 years via the Center for Information Services and High-Performance Computing (ZIH) intermediate archive and for Open Access Repository and Archive it offers the platform OpARA. The University of Bonn offers archiving service via the bonndata repository. Quick Access Links: • LRZ: https://doku.lrz.de/backup-und-archivierung-10745679.html • ZIH Intermediate: https://doc.zih.tudresden.de/data_lifecycle/intermediate_archive/?h=archiv • ZIH OpARA: https://faq.tickets.tudresden.de/otrs/public.pl?Action=PublicFAQZoom;ItemID=1335 • Bonndata repository: https://bonndata.uni-bonn.de/ TRR237 Nextcloud: The TRR237 provides members with access to a dedicated TRR237 Nextcloud instance, operated at LMU. Each project is assigned its own folder for project-specific data, while a common folder is available for sharing documents, protocols, and information relevant to all members. The Executive Board has a separate folder for the administration of the consortium. For long-term data storage and archiving, researchers are expected to use their respective institutional solutions. TRR237 Zenodo Community: For public data sharing and publication, the TRR237 recommends the use of subject-specific repositories whenever available and appropriate for the data type. Researchers should consult the registry of research data repositories (re3data) if a suitable subject-specific repository is not known. If no TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 6 of 7 subject-specific repository is available, or for general-purpose data publication, the TRR237 Zenodo Community serves as the recommended repository. Researchers are expected to connect any Zenodo uploads originating from TRR237 projects with the TRR237 Community to ensure proper attribution and discoverability. This infrastructure supports secure collaboration and enhances the visibility and accessibility of TRR237 research outputs. Quick Access Link: • TRR237 Zenodo Community: https://zenodo.org/communities/trr237/ Data Management and Analysis Support Data Management Committee: The TRR237 has established a Data Management Committee responsible for defining and implementing data management standards in accordance with this policy. The committee organizes training sessions to promote data management and analysis proficiency among researchers and addresses any disputes related to data management within the consortium. Its members include the INF project leaders, the consortium’s Data Steward, and the bioinformatician. The speakers from Bonn and Dresden participate as advisors, while coordinators, project leaders, and scientists are invited to specific meetings depending on the topics under discussion. Data Steward: Researchers within TRR237 are encouraged to contact the dedicated Data Steward for guidance and support on all aspects of data management and sharing. The Data Steward helps implement the consortium’s data policy, facilitates the use of the exchange platform, and supports organizing data archiving to ensure long-term accessibility of research outputs. This role also promotes data proficiency by providing training and resources tailored to the needs of the consortium. Bioinformatician: To assist with the analysis and management of advanced sequencing data, a bioinformatician embedded in the Klughammer group is available to support raw data processing, downstream analysis, and the development of new pipelines for single-cell and bulk sequencing data. Together, these resources aim to empower researchers to manage their data effectively, enhance collaboration, and maximize the impact of TRR237’s scientific contributions. Roles and Responsibilities Project leaders, researchers, and the executive board are responsible for complying with all applicable DFG and the respective institutional data policies, as well as the requirements set forth in this TRR237 data policy. Each member is expected to ensure that research data are managed, documented, and shared in accordance with these standards. TRR237 provides additional support and guidance to facilitate compliance, but the primary responsibility for proper data stewardship rests with individual researchers and project teams. TRR237 Policy FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Page 7 of 7 Document Information Title TRR237 Policy: FAIR Data in Nucleic Acid Immunity Creator Simon Görgen1,2 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9682-6020 1 Transregio 237 Nucleic Acid Immunity, 2 University Hospital Bonn, Germany Creator Johanna Klughammer1,3 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3628-9278 1 Transregio 237 Nucleic Acid Immunity, 3 Gene Center and Department of Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany Creator Veit Hornung1,3 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4150-194X 1 Transregio 237 Nucleic Acid Immunity, 3 Gene Center and Department of Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany Subject Research Data Policy; TRR237 Nucleic Acid Immunity; Open Science; FAIR Data Description This policy describes TRR237’s expectations for data management within the consortium, supplementing the applicable guidelines of the DFG and local institutions. It details the application of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles in TRR237 Nucleic Acid Immunity, outlining expectations for data documentation, sharing, and stewardship to support transparency, accessibility, and responsible reuse of research data across the consortium. Publisher Zenodo, operated by CERN Identifier 10.5281/zenodo.17779700 Funding Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 369799452 / TRR237 – Project INF Date 2025-12-01 Version v1.1 Type Text, Policy Language en - English Rights Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/